Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon on Friday announced charges against nine suspected gang members in connection to the murders of six people over several months.
The Los Angeles Police Department named 20-year-old Mario Gonzalez; 21-year-old Tony Gonzalez; 27-year-old Alexander Padilla Yates; 28-year-old Tyreece Brown; 38-year-old James Patterson; 35-year-old Darryl Jones; and 27-year-old Jahzanee Jervean Cruz as seven of the nine suspects involved in the operation. Two have yet to be arrested.
“I am committed to making sure there are serious consequences for anyone who lacks compassion for another human life. My heart aches for every family who has lost a loved one to violent crime. We will work with them to provide trauma-informed services,” Gascon said in a Friday statement.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon speaks at a press conference, December 8, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
He added that his “office is working diligently” with law enforcement “and community partners to reduce violent crime across Los Angeles County.”
“I have embedded veteran prosecutors and investigators with police in communities where violence has been prevalent,” he said.
The charges come in connection to the November 2021 murders of 18-year-old Arron Sutton, 61-year-old Christopher Woods and 24-year-old Timothy Lee, as well as the December 2021 murders of 23-year-old Kodi Martin and 24-year-old Erika Dixon, and the January 2022 murder of Jamahl Feemster. The suspects are also allegedly tied to three attempted murders, Gascon’s office said.
A member of the LAPD leaves their headquarters on 1st St. in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Mario Gonzalez is facing six counts of murder in connection to the deaths of Sutton, Woods, Lee, Martin, Dixon and Feemster. He is being held on $18 million bail. Yates is charged in the murders fo Sutton, Lee, Martin and Dixon. Brown, Patterson, Jones and Cruz are facing two counts each of conspiracy to commit murder, as ABC 7 first reported.
Tony Gonzalez is charged with one count of second-degree robbery, according to the outlet.
The six defendants charged with either murder or conspiracy to commit murder pleaded not guilty this week and are set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 9.
A LAPD police officer stands at the corner of Fairfax Avenue and Sunset Boulevard where a body covered in a white sheet lies on the pavement in Los Angeles on April 24, 2021. (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
LAPD said the multi-arrest operation was centered on one specific street gang involved in six homicides — two of which occurred in LA’s 77th Street Area, two of which occurred in Southeast Area, and a double homicide that occurred in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Century Station area.
Homicides in LA have decreased 21% so far in 2022 year-over-year but are up nearly 37% compared to the same time period in 2019.
